‘Ottawa’ Psychiatrist Angry at Treatment of Suicidal First Nations Teen
An Ottawa psychiatrist says she is so angry at the poor treatment of a suicidal First Nations youth at an Ontario hospital that she felt she had to go public to talk about the case.
The 16-year-old child-services ward who has complex mental health issues is now being treated at CHEO.
Dr. Elena Shurshilova, who works for Kanata-based Terrace Youth Wellness Centre, said the youth was not given proper treatment during a serious mental health episode at Peterborough Regional Health Centre last week and was treated rudely.
It was only through “the sheer effort” of staff from Terrace Youth Wellness Centre, she said, that the youth from Northern Ontario even remained at the hospital, which wanted to discharge him, although he had been hearing voices, had cut himself and had tried to overdose on cold and cough medicine over a period of a few days, said Shurshilova.